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Minister adamant on EPA`s 133bn/- but questions linger
2008-06-25 10:04:09
By Lusekelo Philemon, Dodoma
Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustafa Mkulo has stressed that the 133bn/- believed to have been embezzled from the Bank of Tanzania`s external payment arrears (EPA) account is not government property.
He told the National Assembly here yesterday that the money belonged to private firms and the central bank was just an agency holding it in trust.
``I still insist that the government does not own the EPA account`s funds,`` said the minister in a move widely seen as a retort to opposition legislator Willibrod Slaa, who had challenged the minister ``to give the facts on the money`s real owner``.
Dr Slaa (Chadema - Karatu) threw the challenge on Monday when presenting the opposition camp`s official stand on the 2008/09 budget estimates of the Prime Minister`s Office.
Wrapping up debate on the government`s main budget estimates for the incoming financial year on last Friday, Mkulo said the 133bn/- did not belong to the government but was the property of private companies that used the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) to pay external debts in respect of imported goods.
NBC was the only bank then commissioned to deal with that matter, he said, adding: ``The country had very limited foreign currency reserves at the time and hence the accumulated debt.``
The minister explained that several amendments were made to the procedures and modalities followed in effecting the respective payments when NBC was privatised in the 1990s, with the EPA account being moved to the central bank.
``The changes included identifying the private companies whose debts were eligible for servicing but the money in that account is no longer public property,`` he further noted.
He appealed for patience from MPs and the public, reminding the House that the team appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete to probe the controversy over the EPA funds was yet to submit its findings and recommendations.
The EPA funds saga revolves around allegedly fraudulent payments amounting to about 133bn/- ($116m) dubiously made by the central bank to 22 companies in financial year 2005/06 in connection with the repayment of the country`s external debt.
The presidential team tasked with investigating the scandal allegations is chaired by Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika, with Inspector General of Police Said Mwema and Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau Director General Edward Hoseah as members.
It was given six months - until June 9 this year - to complete the assignment.
At one stage a few months ago, the government announced that it had recovered 60bn/- out of the total amount fraudulently paid out. However, it has been all quiet since.
Questions being asked following the Finance minister`s decision to stand by his remarks on Friday include why the government did not speak out before President Kikwete appointed the three-man team and why no one is naming the private firms the 133bn/- is said to belong to.
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